delia gonzalez & gavin russom - the days of mars

Andy K., I absolutely adore your new e-mail addy.

I also deeply love Casual Friday. And the NIN remix too. I would probably feel worse about being such a shameless DFA fanboy if they'd stop being such an awesome label.

OTM. DFA have surprised my by lasting this long without fizzling out, and even if LCDSS and Juan Maclean have disappointed with their full-lengths (at least by the ridiculously high standard they set with the early singles), they've more than made up for it with the less-hyped stuff (the Pixeltan and JOY singles, Dela & Gavin/BLF, the new Black Dice which has come out of nowhere and utterly gobsmacked me, etc). And trendiness aside, they're one of the few labels I follow that has an output that's consistent enough that I can justify picking up every CD release the day it comes out...

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000AMUUKI.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

It's very...pink.

http://www.astralwerks.com/black_dice/images/smilingoff.jpg

and the Juan Maclean's "Give Me Every Little Thing":

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000APR5D0.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Have I ever mentioned I really like DFA's sleeve designs? Because I really really do; especially Black Dice releases.

I like this quite a lot! Which is especially surprising given the running time (13 mins) but, wonder... what else is this like?

my lack of Krautrock knowledge (past the corny canon classixx - Tago Mago, Faust, "Phaedra" etc) and of other stuff that is sometimes little more than modulating synths in excecution (M83, Ulrich Schnauss, Slowdive??) leaves me feeling a bit stranded & unsure what to make of this, there's not much of a 'pop' song about it, neither does it feel like anything remotely new. Despite all that, it's engaging (at least whilst playing) and I've yet to feel the impulse to turn it off in the middle.

I'm curious, because most of the above acts (the non-Kraut, more recent stuff) I haven't really taken to, for similar reasons to my antipathy to a lot of the mainstay Morr stuff (Lali Puna & the likes probably excepted). But this little track... there's something *gutsy* about it. Closer to "Loveless", than Stereolab or vague 'electronica'. Maybe it's just the heavy analogue feel. Are they good live?

(kinda obvious I wrote this offline upon reading the thread now, but I'll post. I think I still have a point to ask of some kind here, I'll work out what it was by morning).

But I'll see how it goes :) Thanks for the tip.

it's not just the sounds but also (maybe even more so) the imagery the music evokes that made me draw the comparison

????????

what????????

anyway this album is awesome

they are called BLACK LEOTARD FRONT - clearly a parody of overserious politcal postpunk tendencies blending into ambisexual "sprockets" aesthetics.

i guess it is a matter of whether the joke works for you or not.

also i will freely admit i am unfairly biased towards pretentious overseriousness as opposed to comedy / the light touch.

also, check out this pic from their nascent site!
http://www.deliaandgavin.com/images/d_g-pic.gif

^^^an observation from the universe of so totally wrong you should be forced to live in a discarded shoe.

Beardy there not only built the synthesizer from scratch, he drew and etched the circuit boards in the kitchen. I watched him do it, using library books from the 1950s that more people should be reading instead of Fader or Wigmix.

Stypod:

Delia Gonzalez and Gavin Russom - Black Spring

This duo has remained a sideline act under the DFA umbrella since the release of their single, “El Monte,” in 2003. Come October 4, we’ll finally get to see what these two are made of in the full length spectrum. Judging by “Black Spring,” the album will have been well worth the wait. The Days of Mars will feature four tracks, each clocking in at around 12 minutes. The comparison to ambient music pioneers like Tangerine Dream and Steve Hillage is indeed a valid one. And at times, the pulsing, driving dreamscapes of vintage synth attire recalls a young Steve Reich. The previously released DFA remix of the album’s opener, “Rise,” likely gave certain people the wrong idea about Delia & Gavin, as there’s not one disco beat to be found on the album. Nostalgic as it may be, this is likely some of the most forward-thinking ambient music you’ve heard in half a decade.

Will Simmons

Matos:

I am a professional music journalist and after very close examination, I am not convinced Delia & Gavin have any idea what they are doing or if anyone was even in the room when they made this record. This is a terrible misstep in the history of Stylus Magazine and I will never return to these pages again. Crazy Frog has more talent in just one of his webbed feet
Posted by MICHAELANGELO MATOS at September 22, 2005 10:43 PM

Is that even a serious comment? Putting aside the notion that this would somehow discredit Stylus on any level, with even a cursory listen Days of Mars doesn't remotely sound like they "set up presents and left the room" (which I gather they do from time to time). Do you not hear the linear development amidst all the Rubycon-esque repetition or are you just frustrated that you don't get this?

Also:

"haha yes I should listen to really really boring music that doesn't do anything at all because like wow dude made his own gear"==Aphex Twin, dude

!!!!

I didn't post that! Someone else must have under my name, and I will ask Todd et al to remove it. Thanks for alerting me to it.

with even a cursory listen Days of Mars doesn't remotely sound like they "set up presents and left the room" (which I gather they do from time to time). Do you not hear the linear development amidst all the Rubycon-esque repetition or are you just frustrated that you don't get this?

that's precisely what it sounds like to me, and the only frustration I feel is in how incredibly dull the album is. oh wait if I don't like it I must not "get it," right? feh to that.

"haha yes I should listen to really really boring music that doesn't do anything at all because like wow dude made his own gear"==Aphex Twin, dude

uh, what's your point here?